---
name: "dpkg-preconfigure"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "debconf"
version: "1.5.91"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/dpkg-preconfigure"
---

# dpkg-preconfigure(8)

let packages ask questions prior to their installation

## NAME

dpkg-preconfigure - let packages ask questions prior to their installation

## SYNOPSIS

```
 dpkg-preconfigure [options] package.deb
 dpkg-preconfigure --apt
```

## DESCRIPTION

**dpkg-preconfigure** lets packages ask questions before they are installed. It operates on a set of debian packages, and all packages that use debconf will have their config script run so they can examine the system and ask questions.

## OPTIONS

- **-f***type*, **--frontend=***type*

  Select the frontend to use.

- **-p***value*, **--priority=***value*

  Set the lowest priority of questions you are interested in. Any questions with a priority below the selected priority will be ignored and their default answers will be used.

- **--terse**

  Enables terse output mode. This affects only some frontends.

- **--apt**

  Run in apt mode. It will expect to read a set of package filenames from stdin, rather than getting them as parameters. Typically this is used to make apt run dpkg-preconfigure on all packages before they are installed. To do this, add something like this to /etc/apt/apt.conf:

  ```
   // Pre-configure all packages before
   // they are installed.
   DPkg::Pre-Install-Pkgs {
          "dpkg-preconfigure --apt --priority=low";
   };
  ```

- **-h**, **--help**

  Display usage help.

## SEE ALSO

[**debconf**(7)](/debconf/7.md)

## AUTHOR

Joey Hess \<joeyh@debian.org\>